SHAFAQNA – A funeral ceremony was held to pay tribute to late Shaykh Touran, Istanbul’s Shia Friday Prayer leader on Monday, February 13.

In this solemn ceremony, Turkish Shias attended the event while carrying pictures of Shaykh Touran on their chests to pay respect to this great religious leader.

Many prominent figures took part in the ceremony including Ayatollah Khamenei’s representatives in Turkey, Azerbaijan as well as Hujjat al-Islam Dehsorkhi, Head of Ayatollah Sistani’s Office for International Relations. It is noteworthy that many local authorities and Sunni figures also attended the funeral ceremony in Istanbul.

Dr Ali Shirkhani, Faculty member of Islamic Seminaries’ Association for Political Studies was also present at the funeral, he had an interview with Hawzah News in which he remarked,” The ceremony was attended by large masses of people and the security forces were also present during the funeral in multitudes. One of the impressive aspects of this ceremony to me was that people who took part in this funeral were carrying pictures of Shaykh Touran on their chests as a sign of their respect for the late Shia cleric. The mosque in which the funeral took place was also filled with Shia Muslims.

He went on, “In addition to the religious figures from Iran, Azerbaijan, Iraq and other countries who took part in the event, Turkish local and governmental authorities as well as Sunni Muftis were present during the ceremony. According to the Turkish people themselves, this was the first public funeral ceremony held for a Shia figure and it was attended by hundreds of people. This goes to prove the magnificence of Ahl ul Bayt’s doctrine.”